Ten Minute Microwave Caramels

Believe me, I was very skeptical about making caramels in the microwave. So skeptical that I tested the recipe several times before posting it here. And let me tell you, the fact that it actually works, and you can make delicious chewy caramel in under 10 minutes, is very dangerous for a caramel lover like me. Just a few tips: first, it should be noted that this recipe is for making caramels in an 1100 watt microwave oven, but chances are, that’s what you’ve got. To prevent grainy caramels, take care to scrape the sides of the bowl well during the stirring process.

Every microwave is a little different, so you may have to increase or decrease the cooking time by 15 seconds or so to get the caramels just the way you’d like them. The original recipe called for 2 cooking times of 3 1/2 minutes each, but I found that my caramels were too hard after cooking that long. Three minutes 10 seconds each time gave me the perfect chewy consistency. If you prefer a very soft caramel, you may want to decrease the cooking time to 3 minutes for each cooking period. But even if you’re first batch comes out a bit hard or a bit soft, they result will still be delicious!

If you’d like to add chopped nuts, stir those in along with the vanilla. You can also add a sprinkling of sea salt once you’ve poured the caramel mixture into the pan. For a really decadent treat, try dipping the finished caramels in chocolate. The best thing of all though, is that you can have caramels in a matter of minutes, without spending 30 minutes stirring over a hot stove-top with one eye always on a candy thermometer!

I am glad to see your recipe has vanilla. I followed another similar recipe and although the caramels tasted ok, there was something missing. I told myself if I made them again I would add vanilla. I will print your recipe. Looks delicious.

I love microwave candy recipes , it takes the guess out of hard ball, soft ball stage of the process . There is one thing I wish they would add to the recipe, what the wattage is of the microwave they are useing . Microwaves come in different watt power, ranging from 900- 1200 watts . This can make the difference between success and failure in a candy recipe. The power is found sometimes on the back of the microwave or the inside of the door .
Happy candy making this Holiday Season.
Thank You,
Lana

I honestly don’t know if that would work or not. Caramel recipes can be pretty finicky, so I would probably stick with the recipe as is. If you do try it and get good results, I’d love to know. Thanks!